Plastic composition.



I State of Louisiana,

JOSEPH BECK, or NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

PLASTVIC COMPOSITION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 23, 1906.

Application filed January 23, 1906- Serial No. Z97y459| To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, vJosnrn E. BECK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and have invented an Im roved Plastic Composition, of which the folowing is a specification.

My invention is an improved composition for use in an article similar to linoleum and for various analogous urposes.

The ingredients oft e composition and the manner of producing it are as follows: The chief ingredient of the composition is derived from bag asse, or'what is fre uently termed sugar-cane trash, it being t e stalks of the sugar-cane which have been passed through the mill for the purpose of crushing the same and pressing out the juices. Five pounds of dried bagasse are cut up into say from one-fourth of an inch to one-half inch in dimensionand the same is placed in two gallons of boiling water, together with a pint of hydrochloric acid, and the solution is boiled for a considerable time, the acid meanwhile acting upon the hard, flinty, or silicious coating of the bagasse, so as to separate or aid in separating it from the softer interior portion. One pound of potash is added to the solution and the boiling continued with agitation by means of a wooden stirrer. 'The bagasse is then removed and pressed to elimihate the liquid portion as much as practicable. times with clear water and then repressed. The comparatively dry bagasse product thus obtained is placed in another boiler containing a gallon of water in which one-half pound of chlorid of lime has been dissolved. It is boiled in this solution for thirty minutes, then removed and rinsed in several clear wa ters, and finally subjected to a high pressure for the purpose of eliminating the li uid, after which the comparatively dry product is passed through a sieve for the purpose of separating the coarser portion from the 'finer or pulpy portion. The latter is then mixed with other ingredients, as follows: bagasse small pieces It is then rinsed or washed several;

product, fifty per cent, by ight; boiled linseed-oil, fifteen per cent, by weight, liquid. or dissolved rubber, lifteen per cent. by weight; rice-flour, seven and cent, by weight; wheat-flmrr, seven and oneimll' per cent, by weight: silicate. of soda. live per cent, by weight. These ingredients are thoroughly mixed together by stirring, and the composition is then ready for use. rubber referred to maybe formed by dissolving the natural product in uny'of the wellknown solvents. It is used with the silicate chiefly as a binder and the lion r as a body or filling. i

The product has when warmed a strongad hesive quality, which enables it to be applied and adhere to canvas, burlap, or other fabric, which serves as a backing, and to be so treated as to form any desired geometrical or other figure or the appearance of blocks, '&c. It may also be utilized without the backing as a covering for floors and walls, also for Wainscot-ing. To produce a substitute for linoleum, the required thickness of the material having been applied to the backing, the

same is run through a hydraulic press in or-- der to give it due solidity and coherence. The composition is chea and very durable, and it may be easily apphed in various situations.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire'to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The improved plastic composition comprising a product consisting of the finer portion of bagasse, linseed-oil, dissolved rubber,

rice and wheat flour, and silicate of soda, sub

stantially in the proportions specified.

2. The improved lastic' composition formed of the liner portion of bagasse, an oil,

a rubber solution, a soda silicate, and a cereal" product serving as a filling,

substantially as described.

' JOSEPH E. BECK.

Witnesses:

HENRY L. SARPY,

T. R. DUPLANTIER.

The i 5o one-half per 

